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The Hemel Hempstead School

Academy converter in Hemel Hempstead, HP1 1TX, taking ages 11 to 18, 1,287 on roll.

Report card Ofsted, Mar 2026
1.21 mi Admitted from, latest published year
89% Full
49.9 Attainment 8, 2024/25

Will an address get in?

In the latest published round, the furthest child offered a place lived 1.21 miles away.

Applying for September 2027? Secondary applications close 31 October 2026; offers on 1 March 2027.

The circle is 1.21 miles, the distance the school admitted from in the latest published year.

The Hemel Hempstead School: 1.21 miles Micklem Primary School: 1.61 miles, published by Hertfordshire

This is not a catchment area. 1.21 miles was last year's outcome, not a boundary and not a promise.
How to read this

Most English schools do not have a catchment area. When The Hemel Hempstead School is oversubscribed, places go outward from the school until they run out, so the distance moves each year with how many families applied and where they lived.

Distances are measured from the postcode's centre, not a front door; a postcode covers a few houses. Siblings, looked-after children come before distance, so a school can fill before distance counts at all.

Real admission areas are not circular: the circle is the distance, not a boundary. The labels on the map are postcode districts whose centre falls inside both circles; each opens the district's guide.

The address on the closing date is the one the council uses. How admissions work.

Source: Hertfordshire, published admission distances

Where The Hemel Hempstead School and Micklem Primary School are both in reach

Both distances are drawn on the map above. Micklem Primary School admitted from 1.61 miles in the latest published year, published by Hertfordshire. Its own page has the rest of its figures.

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside both published distances, cheapest first by the median of real sales around each district's centre. The cheapest is HP1 at £425,000. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list.

DistrictAreaFrom The Hemel Hempstead SchoolFrom Micklem Primary SchoolMedian sold price
HP1 Dacorum 0.6 mi 0.2 mi £425,000 106 sales

Sold prices from HM Land Registry, via each district's area guide. Distances measured from each district's centre to each school's point on the Department for Education register.

Sign up to save both schools and be told when either council republishes the distance these answers rest on.

Drop Micklem Primary School and go back to one school.

If the answer is no, you can appeal. In Hertfordshire, 109 of 519 secondary appeals succeeded in 2025 (21.0%; England 19.9%), counted for all the council's schools together. How every council compares.

Other schools nearby with a published distance

The closest schools to The Hemel Hempstead School that also have a council-published admission distance, nearest first.

SchoolPhaseAdmitted fromAway
South Hill Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.58 mi 0.1 mi
Boxmoor Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.54 mi 0.3 mi
Laureate Academy Secondary No limit 0.6 mi
Gade Valley Primary School Both in reach Primary 0.32 mi 0.7 mi
Tudor Primary School Both in reach Primary 4.26 mi 0.7 mi
Micklem Primary School Both in reach Primary 1.61 mi 0.8 mi

The distance as a picture

The Hemel Hempstead School catchment area map: the 1.21 mile admission distance and the postcode districts inside it
Drawn to scale from the published figure, with the districts whose centre falls inside. Save the picture, or share this page and this is the card that appears.

What kind of school this is

AdmissionsNon-selective
Religious characterNo religious character
Sixth formHas a sixth form
How full 1,287 pupils in 1,450 places (89% full)
TrustSCHOLARS' EDUCATION TRUST
Local authorityHertfordshire

Department for Education register (GIAS).

How the school is doing

Ofsted Report card, March 2026: 1 area strong or exceptional, 6 at the expected standard
Report card
  • Safeguarding Met
  • Inclusion Expected standard
  • Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
  • Achievement Expected standard
  • Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
  • Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
  • Early years Not applicable
  • Post-16 provision Expected standard
  • Leadership and governance Expected standard
Ofsted stopped giving schools a single overall grade in 2024; from November 2025 each area is judged on this five-point scale.
Attainment 8 49.9 (2024/25)
YearProgress 8
2024/25 not published
2023/24 -0.14

Ofsted, and the Department for Education's published performance data.

Who goes to The Hemel Hempstead School

Girls and boys47.5% girls, 52.5% boys
English as an additional language15.2% of pupils
Free school meals17.1% of pupils eligible

DfE school census, most recent published year.

What it costs to live within reach of The Hemel Hempstead School

Cheapest district inside the 1.21 miles: HP3, median £365,000. Dearest: HP1, £425,000.

DistrictAreaFrom the schoolMedian sold price
HP3 Dacorum 1.0 mi £365,000 133 sales
HP1 Dacorum 0.6 mi £425,000 106 sales
How to read this

The postcode districts whose centre falls inside the 1.21 miles the school admitted from in the latest published year, cheapest first, by the median of real sales around each district's centre. A district is wide, so check the address itself, not the list. Districts without enough recorded sales to rank are not shown.

How this compares across England: what a tight gate costs, school by school.

Source: HM Land Registry sold prices, via each district's area guide

Getting to The Hemel Hempstead School by bus

Best-served stop: Waterhouse Street, 0.2 mi away, with 19.3 buses an hour on weekday daytimes; first bus 05:11, last 22:15.

Every stop within 600 m
StopFrom the schoolWeekday daytime, an hourEveningSundayRoutes
Beechfield Road North0.2 mi1.00.00.0H10, H11
Waterhouse Street0.2 mi17.24.83.82, 20, 302, 322, 1, H10
Waterhouse Street0.2 mi19.35.24.92, 20, 3, 322, 302, H10

These are scheduled departures, not buses observed running. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two rows.

Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport), week of 8 Sep 2026

The fee-paying alternative

Weighing The Hemel Hempstead School against the independent sector? Every fee-paying school around HP1: ages, selection, and how full each one is → What it costs to live at HP1 1TX, by the school: council tax, energy, prices, rent, stamp duty →

Checking the house as well as the school

The full report checks one address against every nearby school, with sold prices, flood risk and crime.

Common questions

What is the catchment area for The Hemel Hempstead School?

The Hemel Hempstead School does not have one in the sense most people mean. Like most English schools, an oversubscribed year offers places outward from the school until they run out. The nearest thing to an answer: the furthest child admitted in the latest published year lived 1.21 miles away, per Hertfordshire.

How close do I need to live to get a place at The Hemel Hempstead School?

Nobody can say in advance, and anyone who does is guessing. 1.21 miles was enough in the latest published year. The distance moves every year with the number of applications, so treat last year's figure as evidence, not a promise.

Does buying a house near The Hemel Hempstead School guarantee a place?

No. Admission criteria usually put looked-after children, siblings ahead of distance, so places can be filled before distance is reached. Councils also check that the address is genuinely where the child lives.

Every Hertfordshire school's distance

All Hertfordshire schools with a published admission distance, tightest first →
How school admissions actually work, and what the distance means →

Put The Hemel Hempstead School's figure on your own site

A small badge with the published distance that links back here, for a school website, parents' group or forum.

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The Hemel Hempstead School badge

Admission distance published by Hertfordshire. School details from the Department for Education's register, ratings from Ofsted. Read how every figure on this site is sourced on the methodology page. If something here looks wrong, tell us and it goes on the accuracy log.